Goal to see if lowering reimbursements would prompt doctors to choose lower-cost drugs

WASHINGTON—The Obama administration is proposing a test program to see if lowering reimbursements for drugs administered by some Medicare doctors would prompt them to choose lower-cost, but equally effective, medications.

The development could lead to an overhaul of reimbursements under Medicare Part B, a program that pays about $19 billion a year to providers—and is outlined in a proposed rule issued Tuesday by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which runs the program.